IEPA Sets Public Meeting On Development of Total Maximum Daily Loads for State Waters

Springfield, Ill. -- A public meeting will be held on February 15, to provide information about the Total Maximum Daily Loads development efforts. The meeting will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Training Conference Room at the Illinois EPA headquarters located at 1021 North Grand Avenue East in Springfield, Illinois. The Training Conference Room can be reached through the building’s north entrance, off Converse St.

The meeting will give the public the opportunity to ask questions of Illinois EPA and its consultants, and will allow interested parties to become partners in the TMDL process. Public input will be sought at additional public meetings/hearings during the TMDL implementation plan process.

The Illinois EPA has selected Harza Engineering Co. and CH2MHILL to develop the state’s first TMDLs for 25 waterbody segments in six Illinois watersheds. The segments include parts of the East Fork of the Kaskaskia River in Clinton and Marion counties; the East Branch of the DuPage River and tributaries in DuPage County; the Cache River in Union County; the Big Muddy River and a tributary in Franklin County; Rayse Creek in Jefferson County; and Salt Creek and tributaries in Cook and DuPage counties.

These stream segments were identified by the Illinois EPA in the two year schedule of the Agency’s 1998 303(d) List, which was recently approved by U.S. EPA. Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act requires states to identify and prioritize streams identified as having water quality problems.

Harza will be developing the TMDLs for the East Fork of the Kaskaskia River, Rayse Creek, Cache River, and the Big Muddy River watersheds. CH2MHILL will be developing the TMDLs for the watersheds of Salt Creek and the East Branch of the DuPage River.

The TMDLs will determine the load limits allowed for specific pollutants from point and nonpoint sources identified for each waterbody segment. In addition to the TMDLs, implementation plans will be developed identifying management practices to be implemented, associated costs and institutional arrangements necessary to implement the management practices.

For more information, or questions about the TMDL process, contact Gary K. Eicken, Illinois EPA, at 217/782-3362.